Mangia Monday: What's On The Menu

Last week was crazy busy around the Garner household. Jeff was in New York and I was pulling my hair out meeting an unrealistic deadline at work. Needless to say I'm a stranger in my own kitchen at the moment.
Life bites sometimes. Seriously.

But this week, it's back to our normal routine of home cooked meals and dinners together. Yay!

So I'm linking up with Laura with I'm An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday:

{Monday}

Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas

Chopped Mexican Salad

Spanish Rice

{Tuesday}

Spicy Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

Sesame Noodles (instead of rice)

{Wednesday}

Baked Pesto Chicken

Brown Rice

Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad

{Thursday}

Sweet Potato Crusted Fish with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

Mixed Greens & 2 Bean Salad

Mississippi Hush Puppies

{Friday}

Grilled Pork Kebabs with Apples & Potatoes

Risotto Primavera

Big Italian Salad with Pesto Honey Vinaigrette

{Sunday After Church Lunch}

Sausage & Spinach Stuffed Shells

Italian Garlic Bread with Gorgonzola

Cucumber Tomato & Feta Salad

{Weekly Sweet Tooth Fix}

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

I baked these yesterday afternoon. So good! It'll be a miracle if they last all week.

So what dishes are y'all cooking up this week? Tell me about your best menu planning tips in the comments  and feel free to leave some links to your favorite weekly dishes as well. 
Be sure to click over to Laura's blog I'm An Organizing Junkie to link-up or peruse a ton of great menus!

Mangia Mangia y'all!

Words To Live By

via

I just ended the most stressful, longest work week of my career.

If something could go wrong, it did go wrong.

As a result, I'm physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

By the end of this hectic week I even found myself questioning my purpose & passion for my work.

Have you ever had days, weeks like that?

But then I remembered this command from Proverbs, the book of the Bible chock full of wisdom.

We're told to simply trust God.

Just trust God's plan and depend not on what our minds see & feel.

And to seek His will for our lives in all that we do.

Then God will make our paths straight.

Life is full of curveballs and stressful situations.

But no matter our circumstance we can rest in the knowledge that our God is faithful.

And His good plan for our lives will come to fruition, if we trust, obey & persevere.

I'm praying we all have a blessed week, trusting God, seeking His will for our lives
and persevering regardless of our current circumstances.

Mangia Monday :: BBQ Chicken Burritos

I'm always on the hunt for fast, healthy, tasty dinners to serve during the week. A few weeks ago I came across this recipe for BBQ Chicken Burritos via Delish and had to try it. Jeff loved these, and that's always a good sign! I tweaked the original recipe a tad to suit our likes though. For instance, I used
Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, a rotisserie chicken instead of roasted (which was a time saver)
and we opted to add a handful of cheese. Everything's better with cheese, right?

1 (2 lb) roasted or rotisserie chicken, skin & bones removed

1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

1 cup Goya Black Beans, drained & rinsed

1/2 cup fresh, canned, or frozen corn (thawed)

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

shredded leafy green lettuce

1/2 cup freshly grated mozzarella or gouda cheese

4 (10 inch) whole wheat or spinach tortillas

1. In a skillet over medium heat, toss in your chicken, BBQ sauce, black beans, corn, and Greek yogurt. Sir to combine.  Heat up until hot, about 5-10 minutes.

2. In a separate skillet (or in the microwave) warm your tortillas.

3. Begin assembling burritos by first adding leafy lettuce then topping with BBQ chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla. Next add a sprinkling of cheese of your choice. Then roll the tortilla into a burrito. 

4. Cut in half diagonally and serve with cole slaw and Spanish rice. Enjoy!

This is one of those super simple meals I call non-recipes. It's so easy my husband could make it ;)

Have y'all tried this recipe before?

And what super simple meals are your favorites for weeknights?

Give this one a try & let me know what you think!

Mangia Mangia y'all!

Words To Live By

via

" Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen."

Since childhood my most favorite part of worship every Sunday has been singing the Doxology.

Jeff laughs at me as I nearly leap up from our pew right after the Offertory to sing it, haha.

I can't help it. When I sing those words of praise my heart is filled with joy & thanks.

It's such a great feeling to praise God. Have you ever noticed that?

The more I praise Him, the better I feel, the more I smile.

It makes the saying "you can't out-give God" ring so very true!

I have so much to praise God for today and every day. We all do.

Regardless of our current circumstances, we always have reasons to sing praises to God.

Today I'm praising Him that all of our needs are met, for a beautiful Spring day of rest, that I have family

and friends who love me, that God lets me serve Him, for my salvation, and so much more.

What are you praising God for as you sing the doxology today?

Goodbye Picnik, Hello PicMonkey!

So as of yesterday the fabulous photo editing package most Bloggers use, Picnik, closed.

Since Google announced their plans to put the kibosh on Picnik, I've been searching for an alternative.

And thanks to one of my favorite Blogs, I found it!

Introducing PicMonkey.

I've been playing around with it for a few days and am sold.

It's like Instagram for photo editing.

What I love about PicMonkey: it's free, super simple to use, and loaded with fun effects.

It's no match for Photoshop, but it offers more than Picnik.

It's worth noting though, while PicMonkey offers a completely free service for now,
it will soon operate like Picnik and reserve some functions for premium members.

To help us all get acclimated, one of my fave Bloggers Ashton over at Something Swanky

has been posting cool tutorials to prove just how easy PicMonkey is to use. 

Check out her posts: 5 Really Cool Things You Can Do With PicMonkey and

How To Make A Collage In PicMonkey

For a snapshot preview of PicMonkey, here are my favorite features thus far:

 {One} Drag & Drop

Self-explanatory - just drag & drop your image into PicMonkey and start editing

{Two} Labels

Love these new shapes & editable labels!

{Three} Merge

Finally! PicMonkey provides a way to stick multiple layers together which allows you to move around stickers, labels, text, etc without moving around the entire image. Magic!

There's so much more to PicMonkey and I think y'all will love it as much as I do!

Be sure to visit the site, play around with the features and 

stop by Something Swanky for Ashton's great tutorials!

So what do you think?

And what imaging package are you turning to now that Picnik has closed?

Have a fabulous weekend y'all!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday y'all!

I'm linking up with Jamie over at This Kind Of Love
for What I'm Loving Wednesday

{One}
I see printables on Pinterest all the time,
but this one really caught my attention today:

                                                                             Source: darlinglittlethings.tumblr.com via Ally on Pinterest

{Two}
Extremely Hip Seniors Charm Mall With Flash Mob
How cute is this?





{Three}
Turns out, money can buy you happiness.
And it comes in the form of Trader Joe's Cookie Butter.
It's like spreadable gingerbread cookie dough, but even better.






{Four}
My latest DIY project:
chalkboard paint terracotta pots for my kitchen herbs.
I'm thinking of painting the lips of the pots yellow. Whadya think?





{Five}
The LaRoque Summer Collection!
Perfect dresses for wedding and baby shower season.
These are 3 sweet togs I'm eyeing at the moment:

1 // 2 // 3




{Six}
Whoorl's Best Bright & Dark Lip Colors.
Don't you hate buying a new lipgloss/lipstick thinking it's the shade you want
only to find out it looks completely different than you imagined?
Problem solved. Check out Sarah's pics for best colors & nudes!





{Seven}
I tweeted this link out yesterday, but had to post it here as well.
Carlos Whitaker wrote about this beautiful lady, Sophia
and where she finds her joy.
Simply awesome. This just made my day!







So what are y'all loving today?
Head over to Jamie's blog & link up!

Mangia Monday :: Sundried Tomato Hummus

I'm fairly certain I've mentioned it on the blog before, but I have a mild addiction to hummus. Well if I'm being honest maybe it's a tad more than mild, but you get the gist. I'm obsessed with trying different flavors, with or without tahini, and slathering it on anything remotely appetizing. Like always, if I fall in love with a dish, I have to make my own. For the last 2 months roasted red pepper has been the flavor du jour, and then I stumbled onto some Sundried Tomato Hummus at a friend's house last week.... Let's just say it's so good I had it for breakfast. See what I mean? It's a problem y'all.

8 oil-packed sundried tomatoes

1 can garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed

1 small clove of garlic

2 TB tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

4 TB extra virgin olive oil

1/8 tsp sea salt, to taste

freshly ground pepper, to taste

pinch smoked paprika

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a food processor. Add the oil as you blend the ingredients until you get the consistency you desire. Keep in mind, you can always add a little water to thin out the hummus.

2. Now add salt, pepper & the smoked paprika. Stir until combined.

3. Top with a drizzle of evoo, a clove of garlic & sundried tomatoes on top. And serve with pita triangles, tortilla chips and/or veggies like sliced peppers, cucumber, carrots. Enjoy!

Super easy, right? Seriously, make this today. You'll thank me later. Unless of course, you eat so much that you gain a few pounds. In that case, I'm truly sorry. It's addictive I tell 'ya!

So what's your favorite kind or brand of hummus?
What recipe versions are y'all making?









Wishing y'all a happy Monday & a blessed week :)
Mangia Mangia y'all!

Words To Live By

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I don't know about y'all but this verse just blows my mind.

The Lord our God, who is perfect, sinless, holy & righteous takes great delight in us.

Not only that, He rejoices over us in singing!

Us. Broken, imperfect, sinful humans. 

And yet He loves us with an intense, never-ending abundance.

But the first part of the verse is truly my refuge.

Zephaniah tells us that God is always with us, never leaving us alone.

And that God is a warrior, fighting on our behalf & for our hearts.

That just overwhelms my spirit!

As we all go through our week, I'm praying we take some quiet time to listen

for the voice of God singing over us in love.

What I'm Wearing :: Summer Makeup Favorites

So on the way home last night I stopped by Sephora....

We all update our makeup bags when the seasons change, and since summer has decided to arrive early this year, it was time to put away the heavy foundation & winter colors in favor for a light, sunkissed face.

Thanks to my sweet friend Jennifer, a freelance Makeup Artist & Beauty Blogger,

I'm forever keeping a wish list of new makeup products I'm dying to try.

Btw, Jen is featured in this month's Atlanta Magazine so pick up a copy & follow her blog!

A few of these products I've already been using and several are Jen's recommendations from her blog,

but all are the latest pieces I'll be wearing throughout this summer:

{Face}

Smashbox Camera Ready Tinted BB Cream SPF 35 in Light/Medium

Makeup For Ever Duo Mat Powder in Beige Opalescent

Benefit Boi-ing Concealor in Light (amazing!)

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder

Benefit Watt's Up Highlighter

{Cheeks}

NARS Orgasm Blush

or Trish McEvoy Liquid Face Color (love!)

{Eyes}

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer

Urban Decay Naked Palette (still obsessed)

Lancome Color Design 5 Shadow Palette in Mauve Cherie

Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier Pencil in Pointe Noire, Ava & Surat (love!)

Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara in Black (obsessed)

{Lips}

MAC Viva Glam V Lipglass (always)

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker in Baby Doll

Fab finds I am in love with at the moment are the Trish McEvoy liquid color and the Sue Devitt eyeliners. The colors are amazing and they're both so easy to use. They're fool-proof, which is perfect for me.

You must try the Eyeko mascara y'all. Have you seen Adele's eyes? Skinny Brush is what she wears. Sold!

So what's in your makeup bag this season? 

And what's on your Sephora/Ulta wish list?

Oh, How Pinteresting! Spring Game Tailgating

Is it too early to start talkin' tailgating, y'all? Never, I say.

In fact, according to this brilliant site, we're just 4 months 2 weeks & 5 days until football season!

In the meantime we have Spring Games to look forward to.

LSU & Florida kicked off the Spring football season already, but here's the rest of the SEC schedule.

On my radar of course, are Georgia & Bama's games this Saturday.

And for those of y'all heading to the games, here's a little tailgate inspiration:

Hostess Blog has multiple tutorials for super cute football cupcakes!

                                                                              Source: hostessblog.com via Ally on Pinterest

Tailgate Tubs from Go Chic! Just choose your team's colors

                                                                    Source: shopgochic.com via Ally on Pinterest

Club Sandwich Skewers - perfect tailgate fare!

                                                                       Source: onecharmingparty.com via Ally on Pinterest

Tailgate Party Packs including linens & flatware - in 10 SEC team colors!

                                                                          Source: tailgatepartydiva.com via Ally on Pinterest

Bloody Mary Bar. Oh yes....

                                                                                 Source: drunkentailgate.com via Ally on Pinterest

The ultimate tailgate accessory: Crock-Pot Triple Dipper!
Comes with a travel cover, removable stoneware crocks & lazy susan

                                                                          Source: crock-pot.com via Ally on Pinterest

Kentucky Hot Brown Bites - Holy yum!

                                                                  Source: plainchicken.com via Ally on Pinterest

Tired of cornhole? Check out this Tailgate Jenga Game!
Trying to convince my hubs to make a set for us....

                                                                                Source: instructables.com via Ally on Pinterest

Four Cheese Spinach Dip. Yes please.

                                                                             Source: foodgawker.com via Ally on Pinterest

The Tailgater Tote. Build a buffet in a bucket with this clever storage idea!

                                                                     Source: lowescreativeideas.com via Ally on Pinterest

Buffalo Chicken Monkey Bread. I die.

                                                                                Source: jasonandshawnda.com via Ally on Pinterest

The Motherload: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Football Dip.

                                                                               Source: crazyforcrust.com via Ally on Pinterest

Now y'all didn't think I'd end an SEC football post without mentioning what shall forever be known as "CrotchRocketGate" did you? Well Arkansas, when you dance with the devil you get burned.
As a Falcons fan I'll just simply remind y'all.... we told you so.
Bobby Petrino may not be a Razorback, but he'll always be a pig.

                                                                            Source: cbssports.com via Ally on Pinterest

Well if you weren't ready for football tailgating before, you are now I bet.
And I've got 1100+ more pins where those came from on my SEC Gamedays board!
Is anybody tailgating at a Spring Game this month? If not you can always catch a game on espn, fyi.


And as always, head over to Michelle's blog The Vintage Apple to join her link-up!

Mangia Monday: Orange Chiffon Cake

I hope y'all had a terrific Easter weekend! Between the gorgeous weather, a glorious day of worship with family & friends, and a holiday of celebration with fabulous food, you'd think the day couldn't be more perfect, right? Well watching a fellow UGA Grad, Bubba Watson, win his first green jacket at The Masters was the icing on the cake for us! There's certainly nothing more fitting than a Georgia Bulldog winning Georgia's finest event, that's for sure.  Go Dawgs!! :)

But the sweetest part of the afternoon, literally, was visiting with a house full of Jeff's family & mine over a slice of a special family cake. You may remember me mentioning, at Christmas my Mom unearthed an old box of recipe cards from her first years as a newlywed. Some of the biggest treasures we discovered were the recipes of my Great-Grandmother. So for Easter my Mom decided to make Nana's Orange Chiffon Cake. Words can't adequately describe how delicious & light this cake was. It was like an angel food cake, but a tad sweeter, and covered with this amazing orange glaze. Simply divine.

For the cake -

2 cups sifted flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

7 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp grated lemon rind

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

For the glaze -

1 box powdered sugar

3/4 stick of butter, softened

freshly squeezed orange juice

1 TB orange zest

1 tsp good vanilla

1. Measure & sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

2. Make a well & add in order: oil, 7 unbeaten yolks, 3/4 cup cold water, vanilla & lemon rind. Beat with a spoon until smooth.

3. Measure into a large mixing bowl 1 cup egg whites (from about 7 or 8 eggs) plus the cream of tartar. Whip until the whites form very stiff peaks. Note: they should be even more stiff than those of angel food cakes and meringues.

4. Pour egg yolk mixture gradually over whipped egg whites, gently folding with a rubber spatula just until blended. Fold, do not stir.

5. Pour into an ungreased 10-inch tube (bundt) pan. Bake for 55 minutes at 325 degrees, then increase temp to 350 degrees for another 10 minutes.

6. Immediately turn pan upside down, placing the tube over a funnel or bottle and let the cake hang until cold. Loosen the sides with a knife and pop it out of the pan.

7. While the cake is cooling, mix together the glaze. Whip the butter & powdered sugar until well blended. Add only enough orange juice to make the glaze spreadable. Then stir in the orange zest & vanilla. Drizzle over the cake. Using a dredge, shake some extra powdered sugar onto the cake, if desired. Enjoy!

This is seriously my favorite Springtime dessert. All the more lovely considering it comes from a recipe handed down through 3 generations now. What family recipes are a part of your Holiday traditions? And how did y'all celebrate the Easter weekend? I hope you decide to bookmark this cake recipe to enjoy this Spring. I think you'll love it just as much as we did.

Mangia Mangia y'all!

Words To Live By

                                                                                 Source: timschaaf.wordpress.com via Ally on Pinterest

There are many scriptures in God's Word that summarize the Gospel,
but none more completely & succinctly than John 3:16.
In just 27 words we can tell the world what today is all about.

God loves us so much that He sacrificed His own perfect son to pay the price for our sins

so that we will never have to be separated from Him in death.
My human brain sometimes struggles to comprehend that kind of unconditional grace, mercy & love.

Words can't express just how very thankful & overjoyed for Jesus' amazing love!

 Praying that we all are overwhelmed by the love of Jesus Christ today & forever.

Wishing everyone a blessed, joyous Easter from The Garner Family! 

   

"Better Than The Masters" Pimento Cheese

So while my husband & the rest of the men in our families are all hanging out at Augusta National (and bragging with tons of pictures) these next few days, I thought I'd talk about the side of the tourney that I love best: the tradition of The Masters food! Specifically, I'm talking about the much-ballyhooed pimento cheese, properly pronounced "puhmenna" of course.

When anyone says they love the pimento cheese sandwiches of Augusta National I always give them the side-eye. I know immediately they're either a) a Sports Writer desperately seeking relevance through some perceived tradition or b) a Yankee who's clearly never before tasted the Southern delicacy. Because my friends, I've been to countless Masters tournaments over the years and fancy myself a bit of a pimento cheese connoisseur. So I can say with certainty - what's served at Augusta National is not at all good. In fact, it's downright awful and not fit for a dog. Just check out the ingredient list....

Augusta National Egg Salad vs Pimento Cheese.

As I mentioned last year, great pimento cheese spreads are typically perfected over they years and handed down through generations of Southern women. My recipe was originally mixed in my Nana's kitchen and passed onto me as a Christmas present in a memory book of family traditions. But the best indicator of a delicious pimento cheese recipe is that it's made with Duke's mayo and not a single light or fat free ingredient. Ever. Go big or go home, y'all.

2 (8-oz) blocks extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 (8-oz) block mild cheddar cheese, grated

1 (8-oz) brick cream cheese, softened

1 (7-oz) jar diced pimentos, drained

1 sm jar roasted red bell peppers, drained & chopped

2 tsp grated vidalia onion

1/2 cup Duke's mayo

Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste (more pepper than salt)

1/4 tsp cayenne

A dash each of Texas Pete & worcestershire

1. Process or mix together the first 3 ingredients until well blended.

2. Add pimentos & the rest of the ingredients, stirring until incorporated evenly.

3. Add more mayo to get your desired consistency, if needed. Just be sure that it remains thick like a spread, never runny.

4. Cover & chill before serving.

So do y'all have a family pimento cheese recipe? And what's your favorite way to serve this Southern delicacy? If you're not able to attend the Masters this weekend, check out Southern Living's compilation of Food For The Fairway. But if you are indeed headed to Augusta National, stick with their delish Egg Salad or the BBQ sandwiches and don't leave without a couple of mini moon pies :)

What I'm Loving...

Happy Wednesday y'all!

I'm linking up with Jamie over at This Kind Of Love

for What I'm Loving Wednesday 

{One}

There's so much to love about Holy Week, first & foremost the midweek services!
Regardless of your denomination, most churches are celebrating Holy Week with a wide array
of worship services, most of them beginning tomorrow night with
Maundy Thursday communion followed by Good Friday's Tenebrae.

via




{Two}

Unless you're living under a rock, or outside the South, you also know this is Masters Week.
It also means for the next 5 months I'm what's affectionately known as a Golf Widow.
In fact, all the men in Jeff's family & in mine are making their annual trip to Augusta this morning!
But if you ask me, the best part of the tourney is today's Par 3 Contest where the kids caddie :)

via



{Three}

Hot Cross Buns! A Good Friday confectionery tradition I'll be making with my nephews & SIL
tomorrow from the Pioneer Woman's recipe, of course.

{Four}


There are so many fabulous digital magazines options, but two of my favorites are
Matchbook & Dabble. And their new April issues just launched.
I'm counting on both to keep me occupied on the ride back from Birmingham to Atlanta today!

{Five}

One of my favorite classics is airing on TCM Sunday night (7pm), Easter Parade.
Set your DVRs because this is an Irving Berlin musical not to be missed!
It's a romantic comedy/musical in technicolor starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire & Peter Lawford.

{Six}

New Spring Dresses!
Since Jeff & I headed to Birmingham at the last minute Friday, I was already in Atlanta on a girls' weekend and without appropriate dresses for a funeral or Easter. All I had was a pair of nude heels & running gear.
Thankfully B'ham has endless Boutiques & Department Stores as well as my sweet Sister-in-law!
With her assistance, these are the togs I picked up for the week:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4



{Seven}

I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy of Pete Wilson's new book Empty Promises.
If you read his first book Plan B then you get why I'm almost sad to finish his latest.
I'll be blogging a review of it here next week, but in the meantime check it out & order a copy!
So far it's been a gripping read daring us to take inventory of our personal relationships with God

So what are y'all loving this Wednesday?
Head on over to Jamie's blog & link up!